I made that!

It’s my friend Courtney’s birthday and she put in a request weeks ago for a Lemon Ginger flavored cupcake. I’ve been so excited about this flavor combo!

First things first, I needed some lemon curd, which would form the base for my lemon frosting. I started by rubbing some lemon zest into sugar until it was all bright and fragrant.

I mixed that with some egg yolks and lemon juice and cooked them over a pan of simmering water until the eggs pasteurized.

And then I had beautiful, glossy lemon curd.

I found this delicious ginger cake recipe by Flo Braker that I was itching to try out. It calls for 3 types of ginger: ground, fresh and candied.

While all my cakes were baking away I made a buttercream that I flavored with the lemon curd.

There were 4 dozen cakes, I got a little carried away.

I cut a hole in the center and stuffed them with the lemon curd.

I piped on some of the lemon buttercream.

And topped them off with some candied ginger pieces…yum, yum, yum. I think Courtney’s gonna be pretty happy.

UPDATE: After trying one of these, I am officially moving them up into my top 3 cupcakes of all time (that I’ve made anyways). This ginger cake recipe is killer.

RECIPE (adapted from Flo Braker):

2 2/3 cups AP flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup (12 oz) unsulphured molasses

1 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced (or grated)

4 oz butter

1 cup (7 oz) sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 oz candied ginger, minced to make 1/4 cup

1/2 tsp lemon zest

– Preheat oven to 350.

– Sift flour, leaveners, salt & spices.

– In small bowl, combine molasses, water, oil and fresh ginger.

– In mixer bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds. add sugar in stream, scraping down bowl. Beat for 3 minutes.

– Add eggs in stream. Beat for 1 minute.

– Alternate adding dries and liquids, scraping down bowl.

– Fold in crystalized ginger and lemon zest.

– Pour into cupcake liners and bake until done, about 20 minutes.